Letters: Violence is an offspring of an anything-goes society

For nearly 200 years what made the United States unique was a sense of morality, dignity, and civility. Americans actually had a sense of right and wrong based on certitudes. Life wasn't confusing because everyone understood the rules.

Then, in the 1960s, some started preaching the religion of relativism, that nothing is certain, everything is relative. To make matters worse, the government got involved in education in order to take the monumental step of ridding us of those nasty old certitudes. In just a few decades, I believe America, the moral leader of the world, succeeded in trashing its certitudes. Certitude after certitude has been shouted out of existence by "progressive thinkers" and where it stops, nobody knows though I am pretty sure I do.

One thing is certain: violence is a natural offspring of an anything-goes society. Violence is the darkest side of humanity and the United States is now steeped in violence.

Once all certitudes have vanished and violence is totally out of control, I believe a nation becomes a dictatorship waiting to happen. The iron fist of totalitarianism is threatening to come to a nation that is very near you.

Guess where.

— Wayne Farber, Carmel

An irrational hatred

During the 1960s and 70s, people hated the hippies. It was an irrational hatred because the world today would be a much better place if society had listened to us.

Hippies were and still are against materialism, war, ego, guns, organized and divisive religion, racism and intolerance, and these are the things distorting our world today.

To call the country's use of the official language "language chauvinism" is far removed from realty. It's difficult enough when other languages are provided on various documents that encourage non-English speaking people not to learn our language.

Our country is made up of various ethnic individuals. If they want to reside here then they should become fluent in our country's language.

If I were to reside in another country, I would expect to be fluent in its language and not the other way around.

This country has been heading in the wrong direction for many years. To not learn our language is a large part of it.

— Tom Mercurio, Salinas

Disparity between human needs and Earth

The unforgettable social movement of my high school years was civil rights. In college the call to action was the war in Vietnam. In my working years social causes addressed 30,000 nuclear warheads, toxic air, fetid water, and an eroding environment. At the core, changes came from an ethical shift; a new general sense of what is right and just in the world.

In my retired years we face a huge mismatch between human needs and the capacity of the life support system on Earth, exemplified by climate change.

Robert J. Lifton's Aug. 24 opinion piece "Climate Swerve" in the New York Times draws a parallel between attitudes about nuclear armament and attitudes about carbon emissions. He suggests that ethics focused on the welfare of future generations might replace ethics focused on the value of burning fossil fuels. He notes that oil, coal, and gas left in the ground are viewed as "stranded assets" by economics. He suggests that we might create "stranded ethics," views we abandon, as they no longer serve us well. For the sake of future generations, I sincerely hope we will.

— Tama Olver, Pacific Grove

Stop using offensive term in broadcasting and media

This is a polite and respectful plea to my neighbor, Jim Nantz, to please join his own broadcast partner, Phil Simms, and many other broadcasters, journalists, media outlets and, frankly, all civilized people, and refrain from using the offensive term "Redskin" to refer to the Washington football team and players during his broadcasts this year. Why would any thinking person continue to use such an old racist slur on national television, or at any time for that matter?